Teaching and Research Plan for the Cycles of the
Research Doctorate in Economics at LUISS Guido Carli
XXXII Cycle
This teaching and research plan for the cycles of the Research Doctorate in Economics at LUISS Guido Carli is to be considered as supplementing LUISS Guido Carli general rules governing Research Doctorates. For matters not addressed in this document, reference is to be made to the rules in force governing Research Doctorates.
Commencement of Study Cycles and Duration
The beginning of the Research Doctorate coincides with the start of the academic year, the 11th of September 2017. The cycle lasts 48 months. The plan that follows refers to the four academic years that make up the study programme, each one lasting 12 months.
Doctoral Courses and Research Work
First Year
Students must submit a study plan that includes a choice of the advanced courses offered by LUISS Guido Carli and those offered by the Einaudi Institute of Economics and Finance (EIEF), with which an agreement exists. The study plan must be consistent with a particular research field within the area of economic sciences and envisage a workload of at least 60 credits (about 10 courses worth 6 credits each).
Students must submit the study plan to the Doctoral Coordinator by the 15th of December of the academic year in order to obtain its approval.
Students must attend all of the courses set out in the approved study plan and must sit all of the exams in the manner prescribed by the chosen courses.In order to move on to the following academic year, students must pass a number of exams corresponding to 60 credits with an average higher than 2.3following the conversion table in this document.
SecondYear
Students must submit the study plan to the Doctoral Coordinator bythe 15thof December of the academic year, corresponding to a total of 60 credits of didactic and research workload, including the drafting of the Doctoral thesis, which is worth 24 credits, and the participation in the Department’s seminars or EIEF’s seminars, or the participation in “reading groups”. Each of these activities is worth 6 credits and the total of these activities may not exceed 12 credits.
In order to move on to the following academic year, students must submit by the 31st of March 2019 a research work (“paper”) that must be evaluated by the Academic Board of the Doctorate with a grade no lower than C, in order to obtain 24 further credits. By the same date (March 31st 2019), students must inform the Doctoral Coordinator of their chosen thesis supervisor, selected among the members of the Academic Board of the Doctorate, ratified by theAcademic Board.
Students must present the preliminary results of the their doctoral thesis in at least one of the LUISS Guido Carli internal seminars, to be scheduled in the second semester of the academic year.
Third and Fourth Year
Each year, students must submit the study plan to the Doctoral Coordinator bythe 15th of December of the academic year, corresponding to a total of 60 credits of didactic and research workload, including the drafting and defence of the Doctoral thesis, corresponding to 48 credits, and the participation in the Department’s seminars or EIEF’s seminars, or the participation in “reading groups”. Each of these activities is worth 6 credits.
Students must present the preliminary results of the their doctoral thesis in at least one of the LUISS Guido Carli internal seminars during the academic year.
Registration of exams
The exams scheduled in the study plan are duly registered as exams of the Doctoral Programme under the name of the corresponding courses. Grades are expressed in letters and are converted in numbers using the following table.
Grades in Letters / Grade Point ValueA+ / 4,3
A / 4
A- / 3,7
B+ / 3,3
B / 3,0
B- / 2,7
C+ / 2,3
C / 2
C- / 1,7
D+ / 1,3
D / 1
D- / 0,7
F / 0
Any exam that does not envision a final assessment expressed in letters is recorded as “sat” provided that the corresponding course has been regularly attended.
Rights and Obligations of Doctoral Students
In accordance with the recommendations of the doctoral program set out in this document by the Academic Board of the Doctorate, admission to the Research Doctorate involves an exclusive and full-time commitment. Doctoral Students are required to attend the doctoral courses and activities and to carry out studies and research within the University continuously, in accordance with the procedures established by the Academic Board in this document.
Doctoral students may be suspended or even expelled from the Doctoral Research Programme following a unanimous and motivated decision of the Academic Board.
Prior to the approval of the Academic Board, Doctoralstudents can tutor and teach students at undergraduate and graduate level,as part of the training project, without leading to any increase in scholarship, up to a maximum of 40 hours per academic year. The limit is revoked after the conclusion of the third year.
The Academic Board may authorise stays abroad for research periods, starting from the second academic year. Doctoral students must submit the application to the Doctoral Office at least two monthsprior to the beginning of the scheduled period abroad. Doctoral students authorized to spend time abroad for research purposes must, nevertheless, submit the study plans by the deadlines envisaged by their academic year.
In case the doctoral student is authorised by the Academic Board for research periods abroad, the amount of the scholarshipis increased by a maximum of50%, for a period no longer than 18 months. An amount equal to 50% of a scholarship may be used also by those who do not actually hold a scholarship.
Starting from the second academic year, all doctoral students, whether scholarship holders or not, are entitled to receive a budget for research activity in Italy or abroad suitable for the course, that LUISS Guido Carli has fixed equal to 10% of the amount of the scholarship.
The Academic Board authorises the reimbursement of the expenses incurred by doctoral students for research activity within the limit of the budget, only if suitably documented. For the purpose of authorising the reimbursement, the request must reach the Doctoral Office.
Awarding of the Doctorate
The PhD degree is obtained at the end of the doctoral program and it is awarded after the research thesis has been discussed and judged as a valid contribution to the advancement of knowledge or methodologies in the relevant field of study.
The thesis must consist of at least three chapters, each one publishable as an academic article, in accordance with the definition given by ANVUR (National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes) for the economic sciences field, and a short introduction.
The thesis is examined by at least two highly qualified professors, even belonging to foreign institutions, different from those individuals who have contributed to issue the PhD degree, hereafter called examiners.
The examiners are nominated by the Academic Board, eventually also if proposed by the doctoral student who collaborates with professors from another University (in any case different from those individuals who have contributed to issue the PhD degree), during the last year of the doctorate.
After drafting the thesis, and in any case right after the end of the four years of the doctoral program, every doctoral student must submit his or her work to the Academic Board which, in approving it, prepares an evaluation form on the activities carried out during the doctoral program.
The doctoral thesis, which is submitted in its final version in electronic form, and supplied with an abstract (no more than 1500 letters) in English language, is written in the English language or may be written in another language prior to the approval of the Academic Board.
The thesis must be submitted to the Doctoral Office by the deadlines established each time by the Academic Board and communicated to the students by the Doctoral Office.
The student must attach to the thesis a report of the activities carried out during the doctoral program and of the publications, if any.
The Doctoral Office will be in charge of transmitting the thesis to the two examiners, along with a specific evaluation form.
The examiners must express, within two months from receiving the thesis, a written analytical judgement on it, which will be integral part of the final memorandum, and propose either its admission to public discussion or its postponement for a period of no more than six months, if they believe that significant integrations or corrections are necessary. After this period, the thesis will in any case be admitted to public discussion, along with a new written opinion from the examiners, in light of the corrections or integrations made, which will be integral part of the final memorandum.
The public discussion of the thesis is held, even individually for each candidate, normally between March and Junefollowing the end of the academic years of the doctoral cycle or, in case the examiners request significant integrations or corrections, between the following months of September and December.
The public discussion takes place in front of a Commission, composed of at least three professors or experts (eventually including the two examiners and no more than one member of the Academic Board), appointed by decree of the Rector of LUISS Guido Carli, having heard the Academic Board.
After receiving the evaluation forms from the examiners, the Doctoral Office will transmit the thesis to the members of the Commission.
The Commission, to judge the candidate, will dispose of:
1)the thesis;
2)the two evaluation forms filled in by the examiners;
3)the evaluation form prepared by the Academic Board;
4)the report of the candidate on the activities carried out during the doctoral program and of the publications, if any.
According to art. 19 of law no. 240 of year 2010, the title of Research Doctor is abbreviated by “Ph.D.” and is issued by the Rector of the University.
Within thirty days after the discussion and approval of the thesis, the University files a copy of the final version of the thesis, in electronic format, with the databank of the ministry and with the University's open access institutional repository, which stores the work and allows public access to it. The University will arrange for the thesis to be filed with the national libraries in Rome and Florence as required by law.
Prior to the authorization of the Academic Board, some parts of the thesis related to the use of data covered by industrial secret, may be made unavailable, according to the regulation in force.
XXXII cycle
Deadlines and seminars
First Academic Year
September 11, 2017: Academic year begins.
December 15, 2017: Study plan due to Coordinator and Doctoral Office.
September 2017 - June 2018:Courses and exams.
Second Academic Year
December 15, 2018: Study Plan due to Coordinator and Doctoral Office.
March 31, 2019: Second year paper due to Coordinator and Doctoral Office.
March 31, 2019: Submit name of Thesis Supervisor, among the members of the Academic Board, to the Doctoral Coordinator.
Second Semester: Schedule a seminar on the preliminary results of the thesis.
Third Academic Year
December 15, 2019: Study Plan due to Coordinator and Doctoral Office.
Schedule a seminar on the preliminary results of the thesis during the academic year.
Fourth Academic Year
December 15, 2020: Study Plan due to Coordinator and Doctoral Office.
Schedule a seminar on the preliminary results of the thesis during the academic year.
DoctoralThesis
October 2021: The Academic Board nominates the examiners of the doctoral students for the evaluation of the thesis.
November 30, 2021: Submit thesis to Doctoral Office, which sends it tothe two examiners.
January 30, 2021: First evaluation on thesis from examiners.
March – June, 2021: Thesis defense in case of positive judgement.
June 30, 2021: Second thesis submission in case integrations are requested by examiners.
August 30, 2021: Second evaluation on thesis from examiners in case integrations are requested.
September –December, 2021: Thesis defense in case integrations are requested.